Police in Moscow have arrested 23 left-wing activists during a military parade marking the Soviet Union’s World War II victory over Nazi Germany on Wednesday.
The Left Block coalition of socialists, communists and anarchists took to the streets under the “This is Not Their Victory” banner to mark the 73rd anniversary of Victory Day, a widely celebrated holiday in Russia.
“We defeated Hitler — we’ll defeat Putin too,” read one of the banners that police confiscated from the activists, the OVD-Info police monitoring website cited one of them as saying Wednesday.
Left Block wrote on its social media platforms that 23 of its activists had been apprehended and taken to two police precincts in police vans.
Four of those detained are said to be underage, OVD-Info reported.
Minors were also among 1,600 people detained at the “He’s Not Our Tsar” protests in 27 cities on the eve of Putin’s inauguration this week.
A 12-year-old boy in Saratov and teenagers in Moscow were seen being strong armed and taken to police vehicles in widely circulated photographs online.
